PP and IU voted against and now a one-month period opens for the presentation of a motion of censure for an alternative government
The planned script was fulfilled: the question of trust raised by the mayor of Moratalla, Jesús Amo, did not prosper. The two councilors from Ganar Moratalla and the five from the PP voted against during the extraordinary plenary session held this Friday night and which lasted for more than two hours. Now a period of one month opens for the presentation of a motion of censure for an alternative government, for which IU and PP should reach an agreement.
At the end of the session, Amo, in statements to this newspaper, pointed out that «we have defended with solid arguments the reasons that have led us to present this question of trust but, as expected, they have voted against; now they (PP and IU) are the ones who have the ball on their court ». Regarding the possibility of resigning, the first Moratallero councilor stated that “as I said in plenary, I am not going to resign, the circumstances do not exist to present the resignation; now, if possible, I am much more motivated to continue working for our people».
Amo stated that “this government has shown its willingness to negotiate; Proof of this is that we could have presented the question of confidence on November 27, 2021, that is, just the day after the budgets were rejected for the first time in plenary, and yet we decided to give dialogue a chance, convening up to three informative work commissions before the plenary session on December 29 ».
“This matter of trust – he added – is not an act of generosity by the mayor, it is not a frivolous act, nor is it personal self-affirmation; It is an act of responsibility, since the City Council, and the residents of Moratalla, need a new Budget, non-existent since 2016 ».
Juan Soria, spokesman for the PP municipal group, stated at the end of the session that “as expected, the question of trust has not prospered and it has become clear that Jesús Amo does not have the capacity to agree, nor does he favor dialogue and is very intolerant ». The mayor reaffirmed what he had said in plenary, “from the PP we are willing to negotiate and now a range of possibilities opens up in which we are going to try to find a solution to get our municipality out of the serious situation that crosses; you have to move tab not to lose a month ».
Diego Fernández, spokesman for Ganar Moratalla, commented that “the ball is on the mayor’s roof; It is true that he has no legal obligation to resign, but morally and from a political ethics point of view, he should resign and that the socialist group propose another candidate so that he can lead the Moratalla City Council; in that case, although we do not believe that the mayor will take the step, we would study how to facilitate that possibility».
It seems difficult that the PP and the IU brand in the locality can reach an agreement to present a motion of censure and divide the remainder of the legislature between the two political formations, as already happened in the 1999-2003 legislature. In those last four years, the City Council passed through the hands of three mayors from the municipal groups of PSOE, Izquierda Unida and Partido Popular. After winning the elections, Antonio García Arias, from the PSOE -with six councilors, five from the PP and two from the IU-, suffered a motion of censure that was resolved with a Greek-style pact. In other words, the communist councilors led by Jesús Molina supported the PP in exchange for being elected mayor for a year and a half. Later, he would pass the baton to the popular Antonio García Rodríguez.
The regional coordinator of IU, José Luis Álvarez-Castellanos, advanced before the Plenary from the formation any type of pact with the popular ones is rejected. “We are not going to facilitate the PP’s arrival at the municipal government, there is no doubt about this,” he stressed. If the motion of censure is not finally registered, the budget project for 2022 will automatically obtain approval.
The PSOE won the elections in 2019 and has six mayors, for the five that the PP achieved, in the opposition. The Socialists govern in a minority thanks to the support of the two representatives of Ganar Moratalla.
Budgets
Regarding the Budgets, the mayor argued that among the priority objectives is the updating of the entire staff of civil servants and labor personnel, with the inclusion of all the positions affected by the Stabilization Plan for temporary employment of the Government of the Nation (approved by Royal Decree Law 14/2021), in order to minimize temporary employment in public employment. It also includes investments for the municipality, for an amount of around half a million euros, for the repair of streets and paths, municipal buildings, for the acquisition of vehicles for the police, for burying containers, among others. To which must be added the 600,000 euros that the water concession company is going to carry out due to the extension of the contract to improve the water supply and sewage networks throughout the municipality.
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